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The world’s best racing driver is about to race 100 karts at once
Red Bull, Disney+, and ESPN are streaming the race at noon Eastern today.
Later today, Max Verstappen will strap on his helmet and take to the track at the Silverstone circuit in England for a rather unusual race. The four-time Formula 1 world champion is recognized as the leading talent of his generation, but unlike some of the legends that have preceded him, Verstappen’s passion for motorsport extends beyond just the rarified world of F1. With apologies to Midweek Motorsport, but if it has wheels and they keep score, odds are good Verstappen’s down to race it. So at noon Eastern Time (5 pm BST) today, September 16, Verstappen will slip into something a little more basic: a kart.
It’s one of 101 identical karts that have been sourced from Eastern Europe for the event—the other 100 will be driven by a mix of content creators and Red Bull athletes, all of whom fancy their chances at beating one of the world’s greatest drivers at his own game. They get a bit of an advantage, all starting ahead of Verstappen. Once he passes another karter, they’re out of the race, and Verstappen has 30 laps of a purpose-designed layout at Silverstone to get through them all and win.
Other F1 drivers have attempted slightly similar challenges in the past—Alex Albon raced 25 kids last year, and last month Oliver Bearman raced 50 amateurs. But neither is as high-profile as Verstappen, and neither is facing as much competition.
It might have been many years since Verstappen traded his kart for things larger and faster, but that’s no reason to doubt his abilities.
“Max is pretty unique in comparison to the other Grand Prix drivers in that he’s already done the Nürburgring 24 hours in his GT3. He’s out testing those cars often. I saw his quote saying that it’s been a while since he did karting; do we honestly think that he hasn’t gone and done a little test? It’s Max Verstappen! He’s a serial winner, and therefore he’s not turning up here to shine a spotlight on some other individual. He’s going to go for it, and he’s going to try and achieve this target,” said David Coulthard, a Grand Prix winner and one of Red Bull Racing’s first factory drivers.
“Physically, he’ll be in top shape, of course, but it all depends on just how finely tuned the talents are of the other competitors,” Coulthard told Ars. “Some of the Red Bull athletes I know from my time involved with the company, most of the other sports really love Formula 1. So finding guys and girls that are prepared to jump in a kart and have a go is not difficult. …Formula 1 is the peak, and then karting is where all of those guys have honed their skills. And even the late great Senna, asked about his happiest memories in racing, returned to competing against a British guy called Terry Fullerton and karting when he came over from Brazil to race in Italy. It’s like a first love. There’s a real connection between the highest level of the sport and let’s say the lowest level of the sport.”
Yesterday, those other competitors got some practice time on a shortened version of the layout they’ll use today. And they had some help on hand in the form of another Red Bull racing driver, Arvid Lindblad, who has made his F1 debut this season in the Racing Bulls junior team. Half the field got a taste of today’s race when 50 of them tried to beat Lindblad to the checkered flag. Starting from 51st, he managed to overtake all but one.
“The drivers were trying hard, and that was really cool to see,” said Lindblad. “They weren’t scared or intimidated or anything, with even some of them who aren’t very used to karting. The general level, it wasn’t easy for me. Some of the good guys are fast, and they’re only going to get better.”
Anyone who has ever gone racing in a rental kart knows that the equipment can be highly variable. Not here.